Lodgemore Dredging – Final report

Lodgemore Dredging – Final Report

By the time this piece is published Land & Water’s (L&W) 15 tonne amphibious excavator will have departed the Lodgemore Pound bound for its new contract in Chichester.

Elephant style wash-down

Picture one shows the big green machine shortly before it scrambled up the steep bank it had created along the newly dredged water channel. This transfer to dry land was preceded by an elephant style shower as it appeared to douse itself with numerous excavator buckets full of water to rid its tracks of mud.

Dextrous use of levers

Driver John Samiotis was demonstrating his dexterity at the control leavers of the Dutch built WK80 ‘Water King’ right to the end of the Lodgemore contract. John and the Land & Water team led by L&W’s Senior Contracts Manager Chris Spencer have worked their magic to transfer thousands of tonnes of silt from a blocked channel to the off side bank. The towpath edge has also been chamfered steeply down to the water’s edge.

Slow your pace & share the space

The towpath past Lodgemore Mill is once more available to the public. The path provides a well-used access into Stroud for wanderers & ponderers, work bound walkers, runners, cyclists and mobility scooter users. The completed project now presents a pathway that appears somewhat closer to the water than was previously the case.

People powered traffic on the narrow path alongside a newly dredged water channel requires all users to take care. As the depth of water increases through the winter; the maxim‘Slow your pace and share the space’ must surely apply to the Lodgemore Towpath.

Under water obstruction to navigation

Whilst winter rains will bring deeper water it is well known that Stroud’s main sewer is currently somewhat close to the surface at the Lower Wallbridge Lock end of the Lodgemore pound.

Severn Trent Water has acknowledged responsibility for lowering the pipe to provide a 1.2 metre navigable depth. It is hoped that this work will commence within the next 24 months.

Similar hopes apply to the installation of a moveable bridge at Lodgemore. Watch this space for updates.